Johnson received 52 percent of the 649,510 online votes cast to edge Newton. They emerged as the two finalists on April 18, the penultimate step in a process that began on March 21.

Johnson and Newton were in the initial field of 32 players in a bracket setup, with each NFL team having one representative. In the semifinal voting last week, Johnson "defeated" Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers by a wide margin, 67 percent to 33 percent. Newton had gotten to the final by beating out San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, 53 percent to 47 percent.

Johnson succeeds last year's surprise winner for the Madden 12 cover, former Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis. The man nicknamed Megatron will look to shake the megacurse tied to the EA Sports' honor, one that continued with Hillis.

Hillis battled through an injury-riddled season in Cleveland and wasn't re-signed as a free agent, landing with the Kansas City Chiefs. Since former Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George was the first NFL player to appear solo on the game cover (without now retired TV analyst John Madden) in the 2000 edition, many of the dozen previous "winners" have been plagued by injury or other disappointments on the field.

Past cover subjects include current NFL star quarterbacks Michael Vick and Drew Brees. Johnson is the first wide receiver to earn the cover.

Johnson will hope the so-called hex won't affect him or the Lions, who are coming off a playoff season and looking for bigger things in 2012. Individually, Johnson has emerged as the league's best and most popular wide receiver. In '11, he produced 96 catches for 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns in 16 regular-season games. He followed that with a 12-catch, 211-yard, two-TD performance in the wild-card loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Although the cover image of Johnson can be seen now, fans will need to wait until the end of the preseason to get their hands on the game. Madden 13 is set to be released for Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 on Tuesday, Aug. 28.